Program Overview

Overview

Our MA in Ancient History is an opportunity to see the ancient past as familiar yet provocative, a world as multifaceted as our own. We will guide you in forming your own critical judgements of classical antiquity, together with its living legacies.

We invite you to join our thriving, creative, and supportive comm­unity of scholars beyond the classroom in regular postgraduate social meetings, weekly seminars, and site visits. This degree allows you to develop a wide range of skills in interpreting source materials and data related to ancient history, and teaches you how to ask the most important questions. With this qualification, you will be equipped for future work involving independent research skills, either in academia or beyond.

Our MA in Ancient History is designed to give you a thorough training in the theories, methods, and concepts now shaping the study of the ancient world. You can also gain the skills of the ancient Greek or Latin linguist and the historian, through hands-on learning in the classroom and in museums and archives.

By taking your choice of optional modules, you will enhance your analytical skills and broaden your knowledge of ancient Mediterranean cultures including Greece, Rome and Egypt. All of these options are taught by friendly, internationally-recognised experts whose cutting-edge research informs their teaching. They will provide personalised supervision as you develop your own research specialisms.

On a campus overlooking the heart of Roman Canterbury, the Department of Classical and Archaeological Studies is advantageously situated just one hour by train from London’s British Museum and British Library. We are also the UK’s closest university to Europe, and less than two hours away is another capital city, Paris, with its Louvre Museum and Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Our nearness to these world-leading resources, combined with our own excellent laboratory and library collections, form an attractive setting for your research on a dissertation topic. In the summer term, one of our experts will guide you to explore your own interests in a substantial independent research project, using all the skills that you have gained during your 12 month Master's degree.

This is an ideal degree for graduates of History, Ancient History, Classics or the wider humanities, who want to engage intellectually with the ancient Mediterranean and develop the skills of an independent researcher. This course is also available part time (24 months).